Another Night on Mars
by nevah nyrum
Summary: Just a short 2500 word fanfiction that I wrote about a girl who loved the stars and a tiny planet explorer. Can be self insert as main character doesn't have a name/defining features. Kind of an exercise in character development. Mars never felt like she was in focus, until she met a boy named PJ who made everything clear.


A/N: A huge help in any writing attempt is to really know your characters. For this one shot I tried using the Myers-Briggs test and it worked really well. You can go here: www. / to take the test or to read all the possible combinations. Mars is a INFP, and I assumed PJ would be an ESFP bordering on a ISFP. It was super helpful to develop the characters and I highly recommend giving it a try if you are a writer. Okay, enjoy!

The atmosphere here on Mars  
Oh lord it's quite bizarre  
And will remain this way for years and years and years

Sometimes it felt like she lived on a different planet. She laughed. It would probably be Mars, because though she was close enough to see what was happening, and though she was about the same size as the Earth, there was something radically different somewhere that made her... distant. Take tonight for example. She had been dragged along clubbing by her borderline belligerent flatmate, who insisted that she couldn't just leave the room for classes, though she was perfectly content to. And so she had been forced to sit at the bar and order while her flatmate's good friend Amanda had signed up for the Open Mic.

All the nights in shitty bars

It was too loud in here, and someone was smoking, even though there was a sign that said it wasn't allowed inside. Reluctantly, she scooted forward on her stool and leaned forward to the bartender.

"Gin and tonic please." He nodded, eyes skimming her and apparently finding her lacking. She shrugged, knowing that she was not as beautiful as many of the girls in the club tonight. She was dull even in comparison with her flatmate.

That seemed to be the conclusion in most aspects of her life. She had always hoped to be an astronomer, captivated from a very young age by the planets. Unfortunately, it was a hard field to enter for someone with mediocre grades who was better at talking to kids than people her own age. So she had re-evaluated and decided to become a teacher, which she was now studying to do.

Someone got up on stage and started playing, a quiet guitar strumming. The bartender slid her drink toward her and she began sipping, looking for Amanda. It really shouldn't take this long to sign a piece of paper, should it?

Her search unsuccessful, she turned back to her drink and played with the little straw. She wasn't much of a drinker, but at least this way she could exist on Mars peacefully, and without fear of someone trying to socialize with her. Across the dance floor, she could see her flatmate already cozying up to a guy, who had mildly interested eyes and a hand a little too close on her waist. She rolled her eyes at Mylo and felt satisfied that she was acting as a safe base for her to retreat to if things went sour with this guy. While Mylo was fine with these late night interactions, she found herself draw to conversations more than kissing, and to intellect rather than attraction. That was a hard place to be in as a college student, and so she mostly stayed by herself on excursions like these.

Then there was a tap on her shoulder, and she was pulled out of her thoughts. Apparently she would not be staying by herself tonight. It was a tall man with curly dark hair. His eyes were so green and alluring, and vaguely she realized it was the same man who had just gotten off the stage.

"What's your name?"

"You can call me Mars."

"Is that your real name?"

"No, but it's what I feel like tonight." He laughed, a rare sound that sent her plummeting down from space and straight into the Earth.

"You seem like the kind of person I would be friends with." Her brain whirled. Right, because she knew what kind of a guy he was, and what type of girls he liked. She thought they probably didn't introduce themselves by saying that they felt like a planet. Still, a smile crept over her face.

"And why's that?"

"Because I am a self-described tiny planet explorer. And you seem like you could be one too. Or at least you could be a tiny planet, and I could explore you. Oh!" He exclaims almost as soon as the words have escaped his mouth, like his mind was working faster than his mouth and had already processed how easily that statement could be misinterpreted. His eyes darted all around and his hand found the sharp indent of his jaw reflexively.

"That sounded bad. Not that I want to explore you. Not that I wouldn't want to explore you. Um… Not that you aren't worthy of exploration, or that any guy wouldn't be lucky to know you." By this point her cheeks were completely on fire and she was wishing her gin and tonic was large enough to drown in.

"T-thanks." She stuttered out, hurriedly gulping her gin and tonic, and cringing when the alcohol stung the back of her throat. A tangible silence passed, with him glancing at his shoes and itching his jaw, probably thinking of how best to escape the conversation, while she continued to slurp up her drink so she couldn't make the situation any worse.

And throwing up in taxi cars

Amanda came over with a curious expression on her face.

"Hey, who's this?" Amanda was checking that she was okay, that he wasn't bothering her, and she thanked every possible god that people like Amanda existed.

"Yeah, we're fine Amanda. This is-." And then she had to pause, because she didn't actually know the tiny planet explorer's name. There was a very awkward moment where he apparently forgot it, but finally he supplied

"I'm PJ." Amanda outstretched a hand and they shook.

"I'm Amanda. And honestly, I'm a little surprised that you got Major Tom over here to talk to you." She scoffed, but Amanda just shot her a look.

"Well it was lovely to meet you both, but I think I should be going." He said, looking behind him towards a group of three other boys standing by the exit, one holding the guitar he had been playing on stage.

"Bye PJ," she called as Amanda simply nodded her farewell.

"Goodbye Mars." He said, laughing as he walked away. Amanda shot her a nearly incredulous look, but she just shrugged.

"He was nice." This elicited a chuckle from Amanda.

"Sure, he was nice-looking. What did you two talk about?"

"Well, for one thing he thinks I am a planet. And he volunteered to explore me." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"After that things were just a bit too awkward. But then again, I was one of the two people in the conversation, so that's not surprising." Amanda chuckled and slung an arm around her shoulder.

"Brush it off, Buttercup. Come watch me sing, and forget about PJ and his weird pick-up lines."

And though she did try for most of the night, she couldn't help but think about those incredible green eyes and how much they resembled Uranus.

Ignoring shooting stars  
And grinding all their gears

It had been a long week. Being that she was in her last year of teaching school, the career counselor had convinced her to volunteer at a primary school to figure out which grade she'd prefer to teach, and it was quickly becoming her biggest regret. The kids were too bouncy and unfocused in kindergarten, but by year 5 they had already developed their attitudes. This week she would be trying out Year 2, and the following week would be Year 3. Then she would return to university and have to pick, another factor she was procrastinating.

Currently she was sitting in a coffee shop with her legs crossed under her and putting off going down to the school. While she hoped Year 2 wouldn't be as bad as Year 5 the previous week, another part of her kept saying that it would be worse, and she was desperately trying to avoid that reality. She, not for the first time this month, wished she could just float about in space aimlessly. This made her think of PJ, the guy at the bar, who her brain had been shooting to every so often over the week since they'd met.

She stood and brushed off her leggings. She would use the loo, and then she would go to the school. She left her bag and her coffee at the table, and hurried into the loo. There was no que, so she was out in no time, but when she returned, there was a napkin with scribbly writing on the top of her coffee cup.

It read, "Hey Mars, I noticed you sitting here while I was in line, and was going to come over and chat, but you were using the loo and I'm in a bit of a rush. This is my phone number, and I hope we can talk again. I want to apologize for threatening to explore you properly. This is PJ by the way. Thanks."

She punched the number into her phone and sent a quick "Hey" text before scuttling off to the primary school.

Or on our backs under the stars  
As we sang, as we sing

They were meeting again. She was thrilled, but was playing it cool. PJ had agreed to meet her for a night of stargazing, and so she had dragged her telescope to the top of her apartment building and told him to be over in fifteen minutes. Lately, they had been meeting a lot, stopping for coffee before her hours in Year 2 (it was exactly the grade she wanted to teach) or between his many projects, and she had gotten comfortable with his odd mannerisms and his funny way of half-flirting. She glanced toward the sky with a smile and chuckled. He was quite something, her PJ. There was movement behind her, and she turned to see him coming up the stairs with a small box in his hand.

"Hey."

"Hello." They hugged.

"What's in the box?" He turned it so she could see. It was two pieces of vanilla cake with chocolate icing, and she almost screamed.

"I love you Peej." His cheeks lit up a bit and he scratched his jaw awkwardly.

"You would probably marry me if I had actually remembered to bring forks then." She pulled him onto one of the kitchen chairs she had also pulled up the arduous stairs and refocused the telescope absently.

"I live here remember? We can grab the forks when we're ready." And she proceeded to show him all the constellations she knew, naming them and spewing off random facts from her brain.

I don't know where you're going

But I hope you have the best time getting there

"Tell me a story." She laughed. It would be an odd request from anyone except PJ. He said he loved the way her mind worked, and the twisted paths it took to get from point A to point B. She let her mind wander for a moment, thinking back to the first time they met and how he had called himself a tiny planet explorer.

"Once upon a time, there were two tiny planet explorers. One had freakishly long fingers and the other was forced to learn piano. It took them a long time to meet, but their fates were intertwined and one day their destinies crossed. The second that they met they began to make up for lost time, and had been traveling the universe together ever since.

"The two adventurers, on this particular day were on the planet with the largest mountain ever discovered. They had been stranded on a small planet nearby and had been bumming rides across the galaxy, hoping to find another space ship or a way back home. But upon seeing the gorgeous mountain, they elected to instead climb it.

"It took many days, and without their usual supplies they found themselves huddled together on bitter nights and their throats cracked in the mornings, but eventually they reached the top. And the view was beautiful."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And what happened then?" She thought for a moment, already knowing how PJ wanted this story to end.

"And nothing. It was just a mountain that happened to be tall. The girl learned how to make great bread and mediocre pasta, and the boy made them a house out of stones. Since it was so high no one ever bothered them, but they also couldn't take little trips to get away from the house. There was nothing else on the planet." His eyebrows furrowed, so finally she relented.

We all share the same sky

We're all Martians

"But that wasn't what was important. They had each other, and that was all they needed. They became best friends and the boy made the girl a piano so she could play it and the girl caught the boy a star so he could feel something. And they lived happily ever after."

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head like it was the most natural thing in the world, but her entire face flared up and the backs of her ears turned scarlet. She thanked every God there could be that it was dark out.

"I love your stories probably more than anything else in the world." PJ said, still looking down at her. Usually she could tell he was being sarcastic when he said something like that; it was in the lilting way his speech slowed slightly and the way one eyebrow always seemed to raise. But this time he did neither of the two, just stared directly into her eyes.

"But I do feel plenty of things, and I don't need you to catch me a star to feel them." She smiled.

"That's good, because I think I would be rubbish at star catching." He was leaning closer now, looking into her eyes the way he only looked at mysteries and challenges, with one side of his mouth slightly quirked and his eyes burning, and she wondered what she had done to warrant such a look.

"How do you not know that you're beautiful?" She blushed and leaned away, embarrassed.

"What's another night on Mars? With friends like ours anywhere is home." She sang softly. She had no idea why, just on impulse. And that made PJ look off into the middle distance.

"What is that from?" He asked, but his eyes seemed distracted. They were still slightly squinted and he still wasn't looking at her.

"Another Night on Mars by the Maine. Have you heard it?"

"Maybe. Will you sing it for me?" The request seemed so personal, and when she didn't respond he peered up at her. So much emotion burned in his gaze that she blushed again, though she didn't break his stare. She didn't think she could look away if she wanted to.

"Sure," she exhaled, the word as airy as her own breath. She struggled to remember the words, but eventually she came upon the only part that her racing heart wasn't interrupting.

This one goes out to my closest friends  
The ones who make me feel less alien  
I do not think I would be here if not for them

"I would be honoured to be stuck on Mars with you." He said, then leaned in and kissed her.

And if looking into those green eyes felt like falling to the Earth, that felt like being launched into space.

What's another night on Mars?  
With friends like ours  
Anywhere is home...


End file.
